DFS Businesses

The Dementia Friendly Stockton project is aiming to develop the borough of Stockton-on-Tees as a nationally recognised dementia friendly community.

We want to ensure that people living with dementia are able to:

Remain active and included members of their communities

Maintain their independence for as long as possible

Be treated with understanding and respect

Receive support when necessary

We are asking individuals and organisations from across Stockton-on-Tees to think about what they can do to help ensure people living with dementia can continue to remain active and included members of our communities.

We would like business and other organisations from across Stockton-on-Tees to take a number of low cost, easily achievable steps that will enable them to meet the needs of their customers living with dementia and their carers.

The Dementia Friendly Stockton project has produced a number of resources to assist organisations to become more dementia friendly. We also help to make people living with dementia, carers and the wider community aware of which organisations are part of the project.

Innovations in Dementia have outlined a number of ways in which organisations can benefit from becoming more dementia friendly, including:

It will enable you to maintain your existing customers who might have, or be developing dementia. If they do not find it easy to use your business, they are likely to seek out another.

It will enable you to attract new customers. There will be an increase in the numbers of people with dementia living independently. They will use the businesses which are easiest to use.

Your business may have a community charter, or a community benefit component to your quality assurance program. Making it easier for people with dementia to use your business will be a very big “plus”.

It will help with compliance to the Equality Act 2010.

Staff who are unsure how to best serve customers with dementia may be hesitant in helping, causing delays to themselves, the customer with dementia, and other customers.

In addition many of the things that make an organisation dementia friendly, such as ensuring premises are navigable and helping customer facing staff respond to the needs of customers, underpin good customer service for everyone. So if you get it right for people living with dementia you get it right for everyone.

6 Steps to dementia friendly

Our 6 steps to becoming dementia friendly, hover over each step to find out more.

Support

Ensure the support of a senior member of staff, for example a senior manager or director

Listen

Listen to what people living with dementia and their carers think is important

Educate

Increase awareness and understanding about dementia among appropriate members of staff

Adapt

Make the physical environment of your organisation more accessible to people living with dementia

Publicise

Make your literature, publicity materials and other information accessible to people living with dementia

Share

Share information to support the wider development of Stockton-on-Tees as a dementia friendly community

Why get involved

We believe that people with dementia and their carers have the right to:

Live their life in a way that meets their needs.

Engage in and contribute to their local communities for as long as they wish to.

Live alongside people who have an awareness and understanding of dementia.

Live their lives free from stigma.

Access the information, services and support that they need.

The Dementia Friendly Stockton project is committed to improving the lives of people living with dementia and what you to share these aims however becoming more dementia friendly also has a number of other significant benefits for your organisation.

To become a part of the Dementia Friendly Stockton project all you organisation needs to do is:

Submit a short application form outlining how you will work towards the 6 steps to becoming a more dementia friendly organisation

Agree to submit an annual review of progress and listen to feedback from customers living with dementia